218 | Euphorbia Ipecacuanha. 
foreign Ipecacuanha. It has indeed some advantages which the 
imported article does not possess. It is not unpleasant, either 
in taste or smell; and it is well known that to some persons 
the officinal Ipecacuanha is so disagreeable that they cannot take it 
atall. Upon the whole, the attention of physicians may be con- 
fidently called to our native Ipecacuanha, as possessed of virtues 
equal, and in some respects superior to imported Ipecacuanha. Its 
occasional cathartic effect is no more than what follows the use of 
the foreign medicine, on some occasions. This view of the sub- 
ject derives peculiar importance from the well known fact, that the 
Ipecacuanha of the shops (at least in this country) is rarely good— 
perhaps seldom genuine. This is not the proper place to inquire 
into the cause of this palpable adulteration, or whether it takes place 
before the article is sent to us. It isa common complaint among 
physicians, that it now takes twice the quantity of Tpecacuanha that 
was formerly necessary, to produce a full vomiting. The chemical 
analysis has been deferred, owing to the want of the sufficient quan- 
tity of the root. But it shall appear in the appendix, with the fourth 
number. 
